The story of LISBURN town

IN 1973 as a result of Local Government Reorganisation, the
Borough of Lisburn became the administrative unit of those parts
of south west Antrim and north west Down comprising an area of
174 square miles which stretches from Glenavy and Dundrod in the
north to Dromara and Hillsborough in the south, and from Drumbo
and Dunmurry in the east to Moira and Aghalee in the west.

Within the boundaries of the Borough are a number of villages
and small towns, each with its own historical experience, but
the bulk of its 91,000 inhabitants live in its centre - the town
of Lisburn - the capital of the Lagan Valley.

HISTORY

The known and recorded history of Lisburn stretches back to
the closing years of the Sixteenth Century, when the long
struggle between the native Princes of Ulster and Queen
Elizabeth The First, was reaching its climax.

At that time, the small village of Lisnagarvagh, later called
Lisnagarvey, was a stronghold of a member of the powerful
O'Neill dynasty which the Queen had tried to subdue both by
conciliation and war, but the members of which had fought
proudly and stubbornly until its resistance was finally quelled
in the year of her death.

In that year, 1603, the independence and power' of the
O'Neills, Princes of Ulster, Earls of Tirowen, Captains of
Killultagh and Lords of Lisnagarvagh, ended. In 1609, in the
reign of King James the First of England and the Sixth of
Scotland, the lands of the O'Neills and other Septs, such as the
O'Laverys, were "acquired" by Captain Fulke Conway, an officer
in the English army, who brought with him Englishmen and
Welshmen and proceeded to build a town, a church, and a castle
commanding the crossing over the River Lagan.

The original town of, Lisnagarvey consisted of approximately
50 houses and in 1623, the church, on the site where the
Cathedral of Christ Church now stands was in use for divine
services.

Four years later, a castle was built, and a portion of the
wall which formed the entrance is still standing and indeed, is
now listed as an Historic Monument by the Department of The
Environment for Northern Ireland.

Following the death of King Charles I, during the
Commonwealth period, the citizens of Lisnagarvey declined to
support Cromwell and, after the Restoration of the Monarchy in
1660, the Parish Church of Lisngarvey was granted the status of
a Cathedral by a Royal Charter of King Charles II, dated 25th
October, 1662, in recognition of the inhabitants' loyalty to the
Royalist Cause.

At that the noted English divine and scholar, Jeremy Taylor
had been on the Royalist side in the English Civil War and
during the Cromwellian period had acted as Chaplain to Lord
Conway at Portmore Castle, however Ballinderry, was appointed
Lord Bishop of Down and Connor and Administrator of the See of
Dromore.

CHANGE

It was at that time that the change of name from Lisngarvey
to Lisburn took place, the new name being recorded in a
baptismal entry in the Cathedral on 11th January, 1662, and
Lisngarvey appearing for the last time in the Burial Register of
the Cathedral on 13th February, 1662. The actual reason for the
change of name is unclear, although intriguing explanations have
been offered.

During the military preparations for the Battle of The Boyne,
Lisburn played an important role. In the winter of 1689-90, the
renowned European soldier and Williamite Commander, the Duke of
Schomberg, made Lisburn his headquarters and occupied the house,
13 Castle Street, that Bishop Jeremy Taylor had lived in. Many
of the 10,000 men Schomberg brought to Ulster to fight against
King James The Second's army at the Battle of the Boyne on 1st
July, 1690, were quartered in the town and throughout the
surrounding districts.

The Prince of Orange, later King William III, dined in a
house that stood on the site now occupied by the Northern Bank (now
Shannon's Jewellers 2005),
at the corner of Market Square and Railway Street, and on his
way to the Boyne, met a deputation of Presbyterian ministers at
Hillsborough to negotiate with them the Reguim Donum.

A great fire ravaged the town in 1707 and destroyed most of
the buildings including the Castle, the Cathedral and the
Presbyterian Church. An inscribed stone on the north wall of the
Ulster Buildings in Market Square, indicates that the structure
was rebuilt in 1708.

RESTORED

At the same time, the Cathedral was restored, and the First
Presbyterian Church was rebuilt on its present site. Later in
the eighteenth century, in 1786, the First Roman Catholic Church
was erected on the site occupied by the present St. Patrick's
Church.

The Castle was not rebuilt, but was replaced in the
nineteenth century by the mansion in Castle Street which now
forms the older part of Lisburn College of Further Education.

This mansion was erected by Sir Richard Wallace, Bart., the
illegitimate son of the Fourth Marquess of Hertford, whose
ancestor was captain, later Sir Fulke Conway, founder of the
town. Sir Richard Wallace's benefactions to the town include
Wallace Park, Castle Gardens Park, the Castle Street mansion and
the original Wallace High School, formerly known as Lisburn
Intermediate School.

He is also recognised as a philanthropist in Parfs, where
during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he endowed the Hertford
British Hospital, organised three ambulance corps, and erected
200 drinking fountains known to this day as "Les Wallaces" -
all at his own expense. He presented two of those fountains to
Lisburn - one of which is in the Castle Gardens and the other in
Market Square.

CELEBRITIES

Among other historical celebrities who were native or
residents of the Borough of Lisburn, are: Henry Munro, a highly
respected citizen and a leader of The United Irishmen who was
hanged near his residence and shop in Market Square after the
1798 Rebellion; William Henry West Betty, a child prodigy in
London theatrical circles who was born in 1791 and lived in
Chapel Hill; Brigadier General John Nicholson who was killed at
the Siege of Delhi in 1857 and whose statue dominates Market
Square;

Laura Bell, milliner, and later a courtesan of mid nineteenth
century London society whose romantic affair with a Nepalese
prince led to the formation of the Gurkha regiments in the Army
at a critical stage in the Indian Mutiny;

Sir John Lavery, R.A., the famous Victorian artist who was
reared and educated at Soldierstown, Aghalee;

Sir Crawford McCullough, Bart., seventeen times Lord Mayor of
Belfast, between 1911 and 1936 who was born and reared at
Aghalee;

Mr. Henry Ballance, Prime Minister of New Zealand who was a
native of Glenavy; _

Mr. Harry Ferguson of Ford-Ferguson fame, -who was a noted
engineer and inventor and a native of Growell near Drumlough;

Mr. William McIlroy, J.P., an executive in the linen firm of
Barbour's of Hilden, who was a Papal Knight of the Order of St.
Gregory;

Sir J. Milne Barbour, Bart., Member of Parliament for South
Antrim and Minister of Commerce for many years in the Government
of Northern Ireland.

IMPORTANT

Lisburn town by virtue of its nodal position on the River
Lagan and at the junction of the main routes from Belfast to
Dublin and to Armagh and Enniskillen, has been for centuries an
important centre of communication. In medieval times, the road
system was skeletal, but in the early Christian era the great
route north from Dublin and Drogheda to Dunseverick and Derry
ran through the Borough north of Moira and crossed the Lagan
near Trummery.

The construction of the Lagan Canal connecting Belfast and
Lisburn with Lough Neagh in the 18th Century and the inception
of the railway link between Belfast and Lisburn, and later to
Portadown, in the 19th Century, enhanced the junction position
of the town and accelerated the growth of industry and commerce
in the area.

The Lagan Canal which was engineered by Richard Owen, had
been surveyed by Robert Whitworth, assistant to James Brindley
the famous English Canal Engineer.

In his detailed report to the Local Committee of Board of
Commissioners of the Inland Navigation of Ireland, at
Hillsborough in June and August, 1768, Robert Whitworth who
lived in Lisburn, estimated the cost of the Canal from Lisburn
to Lough Neagh at £32,806, and from Lisburn to Belfast at
£22,784.

The name of Lisburn has long been synonymous with that of
linen. From time immemorial, flax was cultivated and linen
manufactured on a domestic scale, but with the settlement in the
area of the

French Huguenots after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685, the linen industry received a definite impetus. The
Huguenots were men and women of lofty character, industrious and
thrifty and added greatly to the social and industrial
well-being of the community.

LINEN

In 1698, on the invitation of King William III, a Huguenot
nobleman from Armandcourt in France, Louis Crommelin, 'came to
Lisburn and undertook the task of reorganising the linen
industry in Ireland.

Under his direction and later that of the pioneer families of
Delacherois, Coulson, Richardson, Barbour and Stewart,
consistent progress was made, and that high degree of excellence
which made Irish linen world famous, was attained.

To the traditional spinning, weaving, and thread manufacture
have been added hemstitching, embroidery, production of thread
and webbing, and the' processing and utilising of synthetic
fibers. To-day. , however, while the linen industry instill
important, it no longer enjoys the pre-eminence it once
possessed.

At the beginning of the present century, cabinet making was
established on a commercial basis and has steadily grown in
importance. There are now several modern factories producing
furniture of excellent design and quality for the home and
British markets.

CLIMATE

Good soils, an equable climate, and, a progressive farming
community have combined to make agriculture a thriving industry
and, consequently, it is not surprising that the production of
animal feeding stuffs is carried on in several modern and
fully automated mills.

There are also food processing and canning plants, the
products of which are distributed throughout the British Isles
and Western Europe, and efficient farm by-products factories are
in operation in different parts of the Borough.

In the past three decades, successive Governments have
pursued policies designed to encourage the diversification of
industry and those policies have been reflected in the
development of a wide variety of enterprises by local
capitalists and entrepreneurs from further afield.

The phenomenal growth of population in the Borough has
fostered the expansion of house-building and ancillary trades. A
substantial number of local firms are engaged in the lay-out of
pleasant housing estates and the construction of well-designed
modern dwellings and community buildings.

In the excellent garages and workshops in the towns and
villages of the Borough, the skill of local craftsmen is
available to service machinery ranging from agricultural
tractors to electronic and scientific equipment.

DEVELOPMENT

Progressive industrial development and a relatively
prosperous population demand the services of a 'highly-organised
system of retail and wholesale distribution.

The town of Lisburn and its satellite towns and - villages
are highly fortunate in this respect, for me chants provide in
well-equipped, commodious and hygienic premises an unrivalled
range of foodstuffs and commodities to satisfy the most
fastidious customers.

The commercial appeal of Lisburn is being recognised by the
increasingly large number of shol pers from other parts of
Northern Ireland who regularly transact business in the town.
Although many of the national multiple shop groups are
represented in Lisburn and others, including Marks and Spencer
are planning to be so, it is significant that the majority of
businesses are still family firms with records of service going
back two or more generations.

The pride and interest which local industrialists, merchants
and professional men and women take in their Borough found
expression 27 years ago in the formation of a flourishing
Chamber of Commerce, a corporate body ever anxious to consider
any means increasng the prosperity and well-being of this